A Major Reason to Study Muscle Anatomy: Myology as a Tool for Evolutionary, Developmental, and Systematic Biology

Abstract

SummaryMolecules are rapidly replacing morphology as the preferred source of evidence for generating phylogenetic hypotheses. Critics of morphology claim that most morphology-based characters are ambiguous, subjective and prone to homoplasy. In this paper we summarize the results of recent Bayesian and parsimony-based cladistic analyses of the gross muscle morphology of primates and of other animals that show that morphological evidence such as muscle-based data is as capable of recovering phylogenies as are molecular data. We also suggest that recent investigations of neural crest cells and muscle connectivity might help to explain why muscles provide particularly useful characters for inferring phylogenies. Lastly, we show how the inclusion of soft tissue-based information in phylogenetic investigations allows researchers to address evolutionary questions that are not tractable using molecular evidence alone, including questions about the evolution of our closest living relatives and of our own clade.

A Study of Extensor Pollicis longus and brevis and Abductor pollicis longus from the perspective of Evolution

“…Study of the comparative anatomy of the thumb among the primates is crucial to help us understand the functional morphology, behaviour and the phylogeny of the mammals [1] . Analysis of the muscle characters can help our understanding of evolution and homologies of the forearm and hand muscles of modern humans [2] . The present study was undertaken to study these three muscles and to note the variations therein.…”

Anatomía funcional de los músculos de la pared antero lateral del abdomen

“…Desde la medicina, un conocimiento más acabado y detallado de la función muscular es una necesidad cada vez mayor de las distintas especialidades involucradas (cirugía, traumatología, medicina del deporte, entre otras). Desde la biología en tanto queda demostrado que esta perspectiva morfológica comparada puede tener los mismos resultados que los análisis moleculares (Abdala y Diogo, 2010;Diogo et al, 2012), y son pasibles de utilizarse en biología evolutiva y sistemática.…”

“…En particular el conocimiento de la biomecánica del cuerpo humano es de vital importancia al momento de elaborar modelos para el funcionamiento del sistema musculo-esqueletal (Stalbon, 2008). Incluso en años recientes, el análisis de la distribución y función muscular ha recobrado interés en los estudios filogenéticos (Diogo et al, 2012). Es por esto que se han multiplicado las vías de abordaje dentro del campo de la miología, generando datos para la construcción de modelos para evaluar una función muscular (Stalbon, 2008) La importancia de la Anatomía Comparada…”

Implicações filogenéticas e taxonômicas na miologia facial comparada de Gymnotiformes e Siluriformes (Teleostei: Ostariophysi)

“…A miologia compreende o segundo complexo anatômico mais investigado em peixes (Datovo & Bockmann, 2010) e apesar das dificuldades relacionadas à aquisição de material, preparo e dissecções miológicas com danos permanentes ao material discutidas em outras contribuições (Borden, 1999;Datovo & Bockmann, 2010;Diogo et al, 2012;, as informações oriundas da musculatura de peixes têm sido consideradas como extremamente relevantes para a compreensão da evolução de vários grupos (e.g. Howes, 1983a, b;Winterbottom , 1974a, b;Datovo & Bockmann, 2010;Wiley & Johnson, 2010;Datovo & Castro, 2012;Diogo et al, 2012).…”

“…Howes, 1983a, b;Winterbottom , 1974a, b;Datovo & Bockmann, 2010;Wiley & Johnson, 2010;Datovo & Castro, 2012;Diogo et al, 2012).…”